Huawei seeks to overcome US sanctions with investment campaign


Huawei Technologies has pledged to step up investments in software and digital energy technology, seeking to overcome U.S. sanctions that have led to sales in a fifth consecutive collapse.

Revenue fell 19% to 178.2 billion yuan (24.5 billion euros) in the three months ended at the end of December, based on annual figures provided by Huawei. Sales in 2021 reached 634 billion yen, the Shenzhen-based company said in a New Year’s message, down 29% from the previous year.

The Chinese tech giant saw sales plummet as the Biden administration upheld sanctions imposed under former US President Donald Trump. The blacklist cut off Huawei’s access to US-made components and technology vital to its once-hot mobile phone business, while several US allies have also banned the use of the Chinese company’s equipment in building their 5G networks.

With sanctions set to persist, Huawei will focus on information and communications technology (ICT) infrastructure to help different industries go digital and smart devices, according to the New Year’s message. It will increase investments in HarmonyOS and EulerOS, its operating systems for consumers and businesses, while increasing spending on technology to develop clean energy and help traditional energy sectors go digital.

“The harder you hit, the brighter the spark,” rotating chairman Guo Ping said in the letter. “The road to be covered is long and difficult. As long as we move forward, we will reach our destination.

Huawei, a private company, has not released detailed financial information for its various business units. Years of US sanctions have strained Huawei’s smartphone industry, which was once the largest source of revenue before a series of Trump-era trade bans cut the company off from major chipsets manufactured by a range of suppliers from Qualcomm to Skyworks Solutions.

In response, Huawei explored ways to sustain a business that generated 483 billion yen in revenue last year. This includes licensing its handset designs to third parties as a means of accessing critical components, Bloomberg News reported last month. The company is also exploring emerging opportunities in areas ranging from smart mining to electric vehicles. – Bloomberg